NYPD officer Steven Marksberry of Lake Grove indicted on more than 100 counts of having child pornography, DA says

An NYPD officer from Lake Grove has been indicted on more than 100 counts charging him with possessing child pornography after prosecutors said he took screenshots and saved images depicting the sexual abuse of girls as young as 4 years old on his cellphone.

Steven Marksberry, 50, of Lake Grove, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead on Thursday to 50 counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child and 69 counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child, all felonies. 

State Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro ordered Marksberry held on $100,000 cash, $250,000 bond or $2.5 million partially secured bond, prosecutors said.

Marksberry's Manhattan-based attorney, Scott Zerner, declined to comment beyond saying his client is "maintaining his innocence." 

The NYPD suspended Marksberry without pay after his arrest by Suffolk police last month. 

“Not only is this defendant alleged to have saved a large quantity of child sexual abuse material to his phone, but he is alleged to have done so while he was a sworn police officer. No one is above the law,” said Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney in a statement. “The safety of our children is, and always will be, of the utmost priority for my office.”

The investigation into Marksberry began when the Suffolk County Police Department received an Internet Crimes Against Children tip that Marksberry had allegedly uploaded child sexual abuse images to his iCloud storage account, prosecutors said. 

A search warrant of Marksberry’s account and cellular phone revealed numerous images depicting sexual abuse of female children between the ages of 4 and 12 years old, prosecutors said.

If convicted of the top count, Marksberry faces up to 20 years in prison.

He is due back in court Aug. 7. 

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.